Boeing Model 40

Boeing Model 40

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_Model_40

The Boeing Model 40 was a United States mail plane of the 1920s. It was a
single-engined biplane that was widely used for airmail services in the United
States in the 1920s and 1930s, especially by airlines that later became part of
United Airlines. It became the first aircraft built by the Boeing company to
carry passengers.

In 1925, the US Post Office issued a requirement for a mailplane to replace the
ex-military DH-4s then in use. The new aircraft was required to use the same
water-cooled Liberty V12 engine as used by the DH-4, of which large stocks of
war-built engines were available. The resultant aircraft, the Boeing Model 40,
was a conventional tractor biplane, with the required Liberty engine housed in a
streamlined cowling with an underslung radiator. The aircraft's fuselage had a
steel tube structure, with an aluminum and laminated wood covering. Up to 1,000
lb (450 kg) of mail was carried in two compartments in the forward fuselage,
while the single pilot sat in an open cockpit in the rear fuselage. The wings
and tail were of wooden construction, and the Model 40 had a fixed conventional
landing gear.

The Model 40 made its first flight on July 7, 1925. Although the prototype was
purchased by the US Post Office, the production order went to the Douglas M-2.

The Contract Air Mail Act of 1925 set out the gradual privatization of the Post
Office's Air Mail routes. In late 1926, bids were requested for the main
transcontinental trunk mail route, which was to be split into eastern and
western sections, with Boeing bidding for the western section. Boeing revived
the design for the tender, with the Model 40A replacing the Liberty engine with
a 425 hp (317 kW) air-cooled Pratt & Whitney Wasp radial engine, which was 200
lb (91 kg) lighter than the Liberty, ignoring the weight of the Liberty's
radiator and cooling water. The fuselage was redesigned to make more extensive
use of welded steel tubing, and an enclosed cabin was fitted between the mail
compartments, allowing two passengers to be carried as well as 1,200 lb (540 kg)
of mail. Boeing's bid of $3 per lb was much less than any of the competing bids,
and Boeing was awarded the San Francisco to Chicago contract in January 1927,
building 24 Model 40As for the route (with a further aircraft being used as a
testbed by Pratt & Whitney).

The next model to reach production was the Model 40C, with an enlarged cabin
allowing four passengers to be carried. Meanwhile, Boeing Air Transport's Model
40As were modified by replacing their Wasp engines with 525 hp (391 kW) Pratt &
Whitney Hornet radial engines to become the Model 40B-2. The Model 40B-4 was a
new-build aircraft combining the four-passenger cabin of the Model 40C with the
Hornet engine of the B-2. Production continued until February 1932.

Boeing's airline, Boeing Air Transport, commenced operations on the San
Francisco–Chicago route on July 1, 1927.

Specifications (Model 40A)

General characteristics
Crew: one
Capacity: two passengers and 1,200 lb (540 kg) mail
Length: 33 ft 2?1/4 in (10.12 m)
Wingspan: 44 ft 2?1/4 in (13.47 m)
Height: 12 ft 3?1/8 in (3.74 m)
Wing area: 547 sq ft (50.82 m²)
Empty weight: 3,531 lb (1605 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 6000 lb (2727 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney Wasp, 420 hp (313 kW)

Performance
Maximum speed: 128 mph (111 knots, 206 km/h)
Cruise speed: 105 mph (91 knots, 169 km/h)
Range: 650 mi (565 nmi, 1046 km)
Service ceiling: 14,500 ft (4420 m)
Rate of climb: 770 ft/min (3.9 m/s)

Accidents and incidents

* February 26, 1928: A Boeing Air Transport Model 40B (c/n 891, registration
NC280) crashed near Marquette, Nebraska after the aircraft struck trees when
flying low to avoid air turbulence; the passenger was killed, but the pilot
survived.

* April 17, 1928: A Boeing Air Transport Model 40B (c/n 893, registration NC282)
crashed at Federal, Wyoming, killing one of two on board.

* October 2, 1928: A Pacific Air Transport Model 40C (c/n 1043, registration
NC5339) crashed on Canyon Mountain near Canyonville, Oregon, killing one of two
on board.

* November 18, 1930: A Pacific Air Transport Model 40B-4 (c/n 1036, registration
NC5340) crashed into a mountainside at 4500 feet in a snowstorm, killing all
three on board.

* January 22, 1931: A Varney Air Lines Model 40B-4 (c/n 1148, registration
NC741K) crashed into Bluff Mountain in dense fog, killing the pilot.

* May 5, 1931: A Pacific Air Transport Model 40B-4 (c/n 1044, registration
NC5390) crashed in La Tuna Canyon in the Verdugo Mountains while attempting to
land at Burbank Airport in low visibility, killing both crew.

* September 16, 1931: A Pacific Air Transport Model 40B-4 (c/n 1428,
registration NC10347) crashed into San Francisco Bay after takeoff for reasons
unknown, killing all four on board.

* November 23, 1931: A Boeing Air Transport Model 40, registration NC7465,
crashed eight miles west of Salt Lake Airport, killing the pilot; it was
believed that the plane overturned while attempting to land at night.

* November 26, 1931: A Varney Air Lines Model 40B-4 (c/n 1419, registration
NC10338) crashed near Pasco, Washington in low visibility while attempting to
land, killing the pilot.

* February 2, 1932: A Boeing Air Transport Model 40, registration NC7470,
crashed on landing at Rio Vista, California; the plane struck an irrigation
ditch and caught fire, killing one of two on board.

* May 3, 1932: A Varney Air Lines Model 40B-4 (c/n 1155, registration NC830M)
crashed at Portland, Oregon, killing both crew.

* May 16, 1932: A Pacific Air Transport Model 40, registration NC5589, crashed
and burned in fog while attempting to land at Burbank Airport, killing all three
(both pilots, radioman) on board.

* December 14, 1932: A Boeing Air Transport Model 40B-4 (c/n 1168, registration
NC842M) crashed at Rocky Ridge, Colorado, killing the pilot.

About the Boeing 40C and 787 Meetup picture

http://www.flyboyzblog.com/boeing-40c/

As if finding a ghost among the cumulus, The Boeing Company’s latest addition to
its lineage of pioneering commercial airplanes, the 787 Dreamliner, caught up to
its ancestor, a Boeing Model 40, in the skies over Mount Rainier south of
Seattle.

The 787 and Model 40, both the technological leaders of their time, represent 80
years of Commercial Airplanes leadership and clearly illustrate the dramatic
progress in airplane design.

During those 80 years, the people of Boeing have introduced innovative
technologies that have revolutionized flight and defined the design of all
commercial airplanes.

Taking a very short break from the 787 program’s intensive flight test program,
Boeing Chief Test Pilot Mike Carriker expertly maneuvered the first 787, ZA001,
into formation with the Model 40 at 12,000 feet to allow photographer Ryan
Pemberton, flying in an A36 Bonanza, to line up for the striking photo.

“It really took a lot of work and planning,” Carriker said. “When I came
alongside the Model 40 against those big puffy clouds it was unbelievable”.

Here is this 1928 biplane flying with a 2010 airplane side by side.


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